Born in St Mary's Hospital, Paddington in London, Costello is the son of trumpeter, vocalist and band-leader Ronald (“Ross”) MacManus and record store manager Lillian Costello. His family had roots in Merseyside and he moved to Birkenhead at age 16, with his mother, when his parents separated. While he is better known as 'Elvis Costello', a stage name referring to the legendary Elvis Presley suggested by Stiff Records manager Jake Riviera, he has used many other aliases, including 'The Imposter' and 'Napoleon Dynamite'.
In the early 1970s Costello was a participant in London's pub rock scene with the group Flip City. Then in 1977 along with fellow Pub-Rockers Nick Lowe and Ian Dury he made his first releases on the independent label Stiff, tailoring his work towards the burgeoning punk, power pop, and new wave scenes. From 1980's Armed Forces onwards, however, other influences including soul, country, 1960s pop, and classical music began to re-emerge, and he soon became established as a unique and original voice. His output has been wildly diverse: one critic has written that "Costello, the pop encyclopedia, can reinvent the past in his own image".
His prolific and varied 30-year career has been marked by two constants: sharp songwriting and musical restlessness. The latter has seen him dabble in almost every musical form, from country to jazz to orchestral. This stems from the fact that, at heart, Costello is a fan. His desire to work with his musical heroes has attracted collaborators as diverse as Burt Bacharach and Paul McCartney, Anne Sofie von Otter, Allen Toussaint, Aimee Mann, Bill Frisell, and Brian Eno.
But his most successful partners were his long-term band The Attractions. They comprised Steve Nieve (keyboards), Pete Thomas (drums) and Bruce Thomas (bass). Between 1978 and 1983, this outfit produced a peerless series of albums: This Year's Model; Armed Forces; Get Happy!!; Almost Blue; Trust; Imperial Bedroom and Punch the Clock.
These recordings drew on styles spanning soul, country and western and commercial pop. It was only with 1984's Goodbye Cruel World that Costello started to stumble. An album he concedes was one of his worst, it ushered in a period which produced interesting music but lacked the consistent quality of his halcyon days. Interestingly, although he enlisted the other Elvis's band for King of America in 1986, it was a reunion with The Attractions and former producer Nick Lowe that produced his best album of the late 1980s in the form of the scabrous Blood and Chocolate.
The following albums, Spike and Mighty Like a Rose were uncompromising and difficult solo works, as was the string quartet collaboration The Juliet Letters in 1993. It was only reconvening the Attractions for Brutal Youth the following year that gave his fans another glimpse of what first attracted them to him: punchy, angry pop songs, tightly played by an impeccably taut ensemble.
Since then, Costello has become a career dilettante, true to his inner musical quest, but never again returning to heights he scaled in the early 1980s. Maybe the best work of this latter period was 1998's Painted from Memory. This joint effort with Burt Bacharach matched restrained writing from Costello with stately Bacharach arrangements.
Subsequent career nadirs such as the tune-free North (2003), and instrumental orchestral works such as Il Sogno (2004) led many long-term admirers to conclude that Costello had retained his integrity at the expense of his real musical strengths. However, he has given occasional evidence of his former fire. The ballsy bar-room atmosphere of the collaborative The Delivery Man (2004), suggests that he is still capable of giving his fans what they want, in between his more esoteric experiments.
Elvis is married to jazz vocalist Diana Krall and they have twin sons.
*Upon the film's release, it was noted that the name "Napoleon Dynamite" had originally been used by musician Elvis Costello, most visibly on his 1986 album Blood and Chocolate, although he had used the pseudonym on a single B-side as early as 1982. Filmmaker Jared Hess claims that he was not aware of Costello's use of the name until two days before the end of shooting, when he was informed by a teenage extra. He later said, "Had I known that name was used by anybody else prior to shooting the whole film, it definitely would have been changed ... I listen to hip-hop, dude. It's a pretty embarrassing coincidence." Hess claims that "Napoleon Dynamite" was the name of a man he met around the year 2000 on the streets of Cicero, Illinois while doing missionary work for the Mormon Church.
Costello believes that Hess stole the name: "The guy just denies completely that I made the name up... but I invented it. Maybe somebody told him the name and he truly feels that he came about it by chance. But it's two words that you're never going to hear together." To date, Costello has taken no legal action against the film.
Elvis Costello and Elton John to Make a Television 'Spectacle'
Two of the most respected musicians in the world will collaborate on an extraordinary new television series.
"Spectacle: Elvis Costello with..." is hosted by its namesake and produced in conjunction with Sir Elton John's Rocket Pictures. Elton John will be one of the program's Executive Producers.
The series begain airing in 2008 on CTV in Canada, Channel 4 in the UK and Sundance Channel in the US. FremantleMedia Enterprises, will handle sales of the show to the rest of the world.
Conceived to provide a forum for in-depth discussion and performance with the most interesting and influential artists and personalities of our time, the show fuses the best of talk and music television.
"Spectacle: Elvis Costello with..." is an unpredictable and unprecedented television experience. The series of 13 one-hour programs features everything from intimate one-on-ones with legendary performers and notable newcomers to thematic panel discussions, with a variety of performance elements including unique collaborations, acoustic and impromptu "illustrative" demonstrations of the creative process, and some original interpretations of others' songs by Costello.
I Wanna Be Loved
Elvis Costello Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
When so many people pass me by
I've been waiting for oh so long now
And yet I'm unable to answer why
I can't be made to give up now
Can you find room for me
In your heart somehow?
I wanna be loved
I guess I'm a victim of loneliness
But why should this be my destiny?
A foolish man for a lot of my life
Shouldn't there be someone
Someone for me?
I hope and I pray some happy day
That I'll be around to hear you say
I wanna be loved
I just wanna be loved
The lyrics of Elvis Costello's "I Wanna Be Loved" are about the universal human longing to be loved and the loneliness that comes with feeling unwanted. The song begins with a sense of confusion and alienation, as the singer asks why they are unable to connect with others despite being surrounded by people. They express a sense of resignation, feeling as though they are destined to be alone, and wonder if there will ever be someone who can fill the void in their heart.
The lyrics then shift to a more hopeful tone, as the singer imagines a future in which they are loved by someone. They long for a day when they will no longer feel like a "victim of loneliness" and when there will finally be "someone for [them]." Despite the sadness and desperation in the lyrics, there is also a sense of resilience and determination, as the singer insists that they "can't be made to give up now" and asks for a chance to be loved.
Overall, "I Wanna Be Loved" is a poignant and relatable exploration of the universal human need for love and the pain of feeling alone. It captures the longing and uncertainty that many people feel at some point in their lives, and offers a glimmer of hope for those who are still searching for love.
Line by Line Meaning
Why must I be so lonely?
I feel incredibly lonely even though there are many people around me.
When so many people pass me by
I don't understand why no one seems interested in me as a person.
I've been waiting for oh so long now
I've spent a lot of time hoping to find someone to love.
And yet I'm unable to answer why
But I still can't figure out why I haven't found anyone yet.
I can't be made to give up now
Despite my loneliness, I refuse to give up on finding love.
Can you find room for me
Would you be willing to make space for me in your heart?
In your heart somehow?
Is there any way you could love me?
I wanna be loved
I desire to experience the feeling of being loved by someone.
I just wanna be loved
I simply want to feel loved and accepted by someone else.
I guess I'm a victim of loneliness
I think that I'm suffering from loneliness, and I don't know what to do about it.
But why should this be my destiny?
I wonder why I'm fated to be alone and unhappy.
A foolish man for a lot of my life
I feel like I've made a lot of mistakes in my past that have led me to this place.
Shouldn't there be someone
I can't help but feel like there must be someone out there for me, even though I haven't found them yet.
Someone for me?
Is there one person who would be interested in being with me?
I hope and I pray some happy day
I'm hopeful that someday soon, things will start to look up for me.
That I'll be around to hear you say
And I hope that when that day comes, I'll be there to hear you tell me that you love me.
I wanna be loved
Because that's all I really want, after all: to be loved.
I just wanna be loved
I don't think it's too much to ask for someone to show me some love.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: FARNELL G. JENKINS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@Oliviacaptain
Why must I be so lonely?
When so many people pass me by
I've been waiting for oh so long now
And yet I'm unable to answer why
I can't be made to give up now
Can you find room for me
In your heart somehow?
I wanna be loved
I just wanna be loved
I guess I'm a victim of loneliness
But why should this be my destiny?
A foolish man for a lot of my life
Shouldn't there be someone
Someone for me?
I hope and I pray some happy day
That I'll be around to hear you say
I wanna be loved
I just wanna be loved
@derrickbrady9816
Oh I know I’m late to the party here, but I still remember how groundbreaking this video was when it first came out in the late eighties . Having Elvis sing an octave lower from over the original track and seeing the set go from B&W to colour every time he’s kissed blew my mind in the most eloquent and profound way . A golden era of music videos !!
@goofygirl5576
I watched this last night and it just about broke my heart. I truly understand that kind of loneliness. Some years ago my husband told me we could no longer have a physical relationship. I didn't know that it would lead to everything ending-kissing, hugging, everything. And I can't leave because he has been diagnosed with cancer. But it is still a lonely life. So I understand the tears because I've cried those, too.
@diethylether9218
I wish you the best :-(
@danfoster-hy8mo
Hold on tight, goof
@michellebrown9520
Criminally underrated song!
@stevejarred6484
And everyone has felt like they’re been in Elvis’ shoes in this video - Sad 😞 and obvious to someone who might like to love ❤️ them!
@littleblackcloud86
This is just the most beautiful song ever written.
@rattyeely
Why is he usually such a over-the-top actor, but here he manages to portray despair and loneliness so well and so sublely
@samuelward1148
Divorce. Didn't have to act.
@lambchop33
Growing up my dad had a VHS tape of the Attractions’ greatest hits through the 80s and this was one of the music videos contained on the tape. I could never understand it, the slow burn of the song and the fleeting intimacy of the video until I rediscovered the song in my 20s. Easily one of the group’s most emotional songs in my opinion. Never gets old